Princesses, travel, politics, hunger -- a roundup from Newsweek

A collection of articles from Newsweek (the issue dated Nov. 26, 2007):

Just because it is cool and the article is insightful… Amazon is offering an electronic replacement for the book. Even so, at this price I'll probably wait awhile before getting one.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983

On facing pages there are opinion pieces from Karl Rove (eww) and Markos Moulitsas (known for his Democratic political blog dailykos). I didn't bother to read Rove's (nor will I link to it, besides another commentator described it as a "snore"). The other one harkens back to Reagan, who said, "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." Since then the GOP has been electing people who believe that government won't work. Surprise, we're getting government that doesn't work. So Dems can not only run against Bush but should also say he is a product of GOP policies.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70978

Disney has a new big line of products under the name of Princess that allows women (not just girls) to be the heroine like Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Jasmine, and Ariel. But there is a subtle twist as shown in the stage version of "Little Mermaid" coming to Broadway soon. Instead of waiting for Prince Eric to dispatch the evil Ursula, Ariel does it herself. The new movie "Enchanted" also plays up the independent woman (as it skewers every princess cliché in the book). A big part of the Princess line is wedding gowns modeled on the outfits of the above characters that will make your wedding a fairy tale event.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70985

International travel has increased around the globe -- except to the USA. For example, British travel to America declined 11% in spite of the dropping dollar, but Brits to India has increased 102%. The reason is the Department of Homeland Security is very slow in issuing visas and travelers go home with horror stories on how they are treated by customs officials. Congress has tried to improve the situation but no official wants to be the one who stamped the passport of a terrorist.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70991

A look at Rudy Giuliani and the people around him. It seems that he is like a mafia don who is loyal to loyalty, not to the talents of the people around him.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70998

Want to twist the tail of the Right? Here's a study that looks at whether early teenage sex (say, at age 14) is detrimental. Finding: kids who engage in early sex have "lower levels of delinquency and antisocial behavior a few years later, not more." This is a part of the debate of whether early life disadvantages forever plague the child.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70988

Anna Quindlen has a wonderful commentary. Food and money to places that feed the hungry are dropping, down more than 50% from a few years ago. Reasons range from cuts in government spending to better quality control that eliminates battered boxes and dented cans. Even though we could eliminate most hunger with the amount of money that could be considered rounding errors in the Federal Budget we as a nation have a hard time admitting to hunger. That makes it nearly impossible for a candidate to run on the issue. So even though "you can't get more Biblical than feeding the hungry" (Matthew 25:31 and following), the God Talk we hear is on school prayer instead of hungry students, beginning of life instead of the end of poverty, private behavior instead of public generosity. Want to talk about bedrock God stuff? Try charity, mercy, the least of our brethren. Feed the hungry, comfort the weary, soothe the afflicted.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70982